Stolen council-owned tractor still nowhere to be found

Despite the arrest of two senior City of Ekurhuleni officials, authorities are still trying to track down the council-owned tractor-loader-backhoe (TLB), which was stolen in December.

The pair was arrested on February 3 in connection with the missing TLB.
Information gathered suggests that the designated driver of the TLB was in December reportedly instructed by his superiors to drive the TLB from Brakpan to perform work at a construction site in Vosloorus.
He later discovered that the work he was assigned to do had nothing to do with his official duties. This was after discovering that he was assigned to perform private work for people who claimed that they had hired the TLB. The driver then reportedly engaged his superiors to enquire further.

He thereafter decided to stop working and left the site, after it was reportedly arranged that the TLB would be taken to the nearby municipal offices for safe keeping. But, thereafter, it went missing.
Towards the end of the year, The EMPD launched an investigation to track down the TLB.

“We cannot allow such thuggery to persist in our space without consequences. We are here to serve the community, and this is public money that we must protect and ensure that whatever infrastructure we purchased with public funds serves our people,” said MMC for Roads and Transport Management Andile Mngwevu.

“When you steal from us, we open a case, and the police must do the arrest. We do not subscribe to such things and therefore the law must take its course.
“It is our sincere hope that the thugs are brought to book and dealt with accordingly. In the meantime, we are going to pull all stops to ensure that the missing machinery is recovered and all those involved in this act of criminality are brought to book.”

Polices are investigating a case of theft of the motor vehicle and more charges could be added.

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